by
CNN
—
Simon Sio grew up in modest surroundings in the heart of Macau, living in an old building directly opposite what was then the city’s largest establishment, the Central Hotel.
Opened in 1928, over the following decades it became a prestigious gathering place for celebrities and diplomats.
In the 1960s, young Sio playfully sneaked in: it was one of the few places in the former Portuguese colony with air conditioning, a vast and luxurious space compared to the old buildings that surrounded it. But one day he was expelled.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t know any better,” Sio told CNN. “I showed the hotel and vowed to buy it one day.”
Although countless children around the world have made similar wishes in the face of perceived injustice, Sio is one of the few to actually put them into practice.
The businessman, now 65, founded his own real estate development company, Lek Hang Group, in 1991. In 2024, Sio recently cut the ribbon to officially reopen the 2024-year-old Central Hotel. 96 years old, as new owner.
But he didn’t buy the hotel out of malice. Sio says he wanted to restore a piece of Macau’s disappearing history, an issue close to his heart.
The great lady of Macau
In recent years, luxury resorts and skyscrapers have continually popped up around Macau. In contrast, the sprawling alleys and ancient architecture along Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, affectionately called San Ma Lo (translated as “The New Road” in Cantonese), may not seem so exciting today.
But when the road opened in 1920, it instantly became the city’s most important artery. The Central Hotel, formerly named President Hotel, opened its doors a few years later and became a fixture in the neighborhood.
“If we talk about the history of Macau, we cannot neglect San Ma Lo. If we talk about San Ma Lo, we cannot neglect the Central Hotel,” says Sio.
This seven-story, mint-colored hotel was the first building in Macau to have an elevator. In 1932, it became the city’s first hotel to have a two-story casino. It was expanded to eight stories in 1938 and to 11 stories in 1942, making it the tallest hotel in the city.
However, in the 1960s, as competition intensified, the Central Hotel began to lose its luster.
“The giant saw me grow up like an elder,” says Sio. “So I had a deep emotional attachment to it. In his prime, he was my idol. As I grew older, its degradation made my heart uncomfortable.
“Until today, the Central Hotel exists as the tallest and largest building in San Ma Lo. I thought he should embody his power to its full potential. So I kept an eye out for opportunities to restore it.
This opportunity finally presented itself in the 2000s, when the two owners of the hotel decided to sell it.
In 2016, Sio completed a seven-year acquisition process and officially became the new owner of the hotel.
This was the first step. Renovating a nearly 100-year-old building is a difficult undertaking, especially since the additional floors added to the Central Hotel in the 1930s and 1940s did not have properly reinforced foundations. To complicate matters further, the building and its adjacent area are a cultural heritage site and are located in the UNESCO-listed historic center, meaning the company was unable to modify or demolish certain structures to fortify its base.
“With almost 100 years of history, the durability of cement was limited and it was clearly beyond its optimal state,” explains Sio.
The team made several proposals based on what had been done in the past, but none were feasible. Ultimately, the Sio team had to invent a new piling method and test its design several times on a construction site in China before embarking on work on the Central Hotel.
The developer also used new materials and technologies, such as digital drawing, to recreate the original look of the building.
“We were the first in Macau to try our method,” explains Sio.
“When you have no experience, you have to take the time to trial and error every step of the way… to stop and find solutions when we run into problems, to discuss together how to pivot, before we get to work. »
After overcoming numerous problems, construction finally began in 2019. Shortly after, another major challenge arose: Covid-19.
But the team persevered and the project was completed in 2022.
“We are all very proud to say that the project was ultimately successful,” says Sio, noting that the cost of the restoration was around 400 million Macanese patacas (around $50 million), while the Total investment was approximately 2.2 billion Macanese patacas. Pataca (or approximately $274 million).
The newly renovated Central Hotel has 114 rooms with a retro interior design inspired by the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. A qipao rental service gives guests the opportunity to dress in traditional clothing to suit the ambiance of the hotel.
An exhibition entitled “Historical Cultural Corridor” on the ground floor is already open to the public. Still to come is a small shopping center, which will sit on the first three floors of the hotel, although an opening date has not been set. The hotel will also house a restaurant, bakery and rooftop bar overlooking the Macau skyline on the top floor.
For Sio, the importance of the project justifies every cent invested.
“Looking back, projects like the Central Hotel on the market are relatively distant and few in number, especially if they have such a long history,” he says.
“There’s a saying I repeat to everyone around me: ‘Money can produce volume, but money can’t reproduce history.'”
Sio hopes the Central Hotel will attract more developers to revitalize Macau’s historic sites and diversify the city’s tourism development beyond its glitzy casinos.
“We hope that visitors will have a different view of Macau: Macau is not just the Cotai Strip, Macau is much more,” he says, referring to an area of the city that is home to many of the world’s most popular casinos. newest and greatest.
Only then, he says, will Macau truly become a world-class tourist destination.
But he says he is optimistic about the future of Macau’s tourism industry, especially as the government has committed financial resources and invited gaming companies to join efforts to preserve the city’s history .
MGM, which owns two hotel-casinos in Macau, for example, would work with the government to restore 13 dilapidated buildings in the 35,000 square meter (378,000 square foot) Barra district and create an arts and recreational space.
“With so much effort, I think we have a chance to get a good result in a very short time, so let’s wait and see,” says Sio.
“Macau is small. We cannot grow. Thirty-three square kilometers is all we have… But the little things can be exquisite. We must therefore move in the direction of finesse, like a jewel. »
